Removal of tetracycline and ciprofloxacin from aqueous solutions using magnetic copper ferrite nanoparticles

This study investigated the removal of tetracycline and ciprofloxacin antibiotics from an aqueous solution in a batch system using magnetic copper ferrite (CuFe₂O₄) nanoparticles as adsorbents. Next, the effects of important parameters such as concentration, adsorbent dosage, ultrasonication time, and pH were examined on the efficiency of the tetracycline and ciprofloxacin removal process. The optimum conditions of the parameters were determined through the Box-Behnken design (BBD) based on the design of the experiment (DOE). The second-order regression coefficients were estimated following the statistical analysis of the results by analysis of variance (ANOVA). The optimal points were determined accurately by combining the results and drawing a second-order multivariate equation. The optimum conditions were obtained at a concentration of 30 mg L⁻¹, a dosage of 0.021 g, a pH of 7, and an ultrasonication time of 11 min. Under the optimum conditions, the maximum removal efficiency was 96.89% and 99.03% for tetracycline and ciprofloxacin, respectively. The performance of CuFe₂O₄ adsorbent in five consecutive experiments did not show much decline, indicating the reusability and stability of the adsorbent. The study results showed that CuFe₂O₄ adsorbent could remove tetracycline and ciprofloxacin from real water samples by more than 98%.